Canvas Art - Easy Decor - Perfection comes with Patience

Who doesn't love making their home, whether its a closet space dorm, or a small apartment, or a huge house look wonderful for their own pleasure? Well I know I sure do.

When we decided to move into housing on base, I immediately knew that I was going to have to do a lot of decorating to make that huge house look like a nice, warm, inviting home -- and boy was I excited!

 

So I began to gather ideas that I've seen on the net of different things that I could do -- but seeing as how anything decor related is uber expensive, I really wanted to keep it as thrifty as possible.

 

One of the things that I am most proud of - and that really anyone can do - was a little canvas I created: Pinterest inspired.. I saw this post via my endless hours of whoring pinterest >> Pretty Bird Wall Art. Being a definite rookie.. I definitely hit a FAIL moment on the first canvas that I did. But with the help of some super artsy folk, I was able to fix up my entire project.

I had an idea in my head of what I wanted.. something pretty :)

Based off of that glorious idea, I went ahead and got myself to work.

The hardest part was picking the design for my canvas.. geez does B have a lot of paper!!

I had no clue how I wanted to do it.. so I figured I'd go with my favorite colors.. blue, pink, black and white (now don't get all worked up about me naming "white" a "color").

I basically followed the same instructions that were suggested in the above mentioned blog, and it definitely was not difficult. See: PRETTY

 

There were a couple "oops" moments while I was making this -- hence why the middle one looks crooked -- Oh well.

 

Continuing on, I have luckily gathered a lot of nick knacks from mother, who loves bargain shopping, which in turn made me a faithful garage sale lover, and more recently an avid thrifty store goer. And btw, the hubs loves to bargain shop too, so it makes it all more perfect :). And it really does help. Who cares where you got it or who gave it to you, if you love it, use it!

 

A couple of things that I've learned is that stores like Ross, Marshalls, TJ Maxx, Big Lots, etc. are the best places to get cute different things that you do not necessarily come across regularly. For example:

 

Venice Canvas - Ross about $30

 

Frames - Ross, Goodwill, Big Lots anywhere from $2- $5

Oh and btw -- picture printing is expensive, I take advantage of Walgreens coupons that get emailed to me - best idea ever!

End tables - Garage sale $10 - then we sanded and stained them

 

This is one of my favs: although the hubs isn't a fan.

Completely restored rocking chair: I took off all the old cushions, padding, and nails, spray painted it, added new cushions from Ross $8 each.

 

Paris Canvas - Bday gift from mother - Wall Wording - Dollar Store $1

 

Vases - Random Warehouse $7 each. Wood sticks - Dollar Store $1 each. Lights - Big Lots $3 each

 

So ya see .. really easy to give a bare living space some color and life.

Regardless how little or big your budget may be there are always things one can find to enjoy the little things in life. By no means did I go out and buy all of this stuff in one day, it's taken me well over 2 years to gather things here and there. There is still a lot of white bare walls in my house, but one day soon it'll all look adorned and beautiful.

Be patient and don't be afraid to make a bargain, there's no shame in being smart with your money and your taste :)

P.S. we've been living in our new house for about a month now.. and I absolutely love it :) and it looks amazing dont cha think!?

Montana Life... Culture Shock... Hutterites

One of the perks.. Some people may feel differently.. About being a Military wife are all the different places and people that one may encounter. Moving from California to Montana, we knew would be a pretty huge adjustment for the both of us. Luckily we both have quite a lot of traveling experience under our belts and figured we would just make the best of what serving our country brings to us.

In moving to a new place there's always one shocker or another... And boy was this definitely one. THE HUTTERITES OF MONTANA

A Hutterite you may ask? yea... I was just as confused as you probably are right now.. I mean I had heard Amish, Mormons, Masons.. But never a Hutterite. They're quite distinct people with distinct cultural customs. Nonetheless living in town one hear's a lot of rumors/facts about how they live their lives. Some of the things we've heard are:

• They are the richest people in Montana (which in fact I've come to learn that they are.. just to give you an example they own most of the "empty" land that you can see driving through the state)
• They are extreme bargainers (extremely true, they can definitely bargain to get the best price possible)
• They speak a dialect of German (I unfortunately don't speak German so I can't prove this)
• The men let their beards grow out when they are married (TRUE! I've actually asked a Hutterite this and he said yes)
• The women don't have their own money to spend so they try to knit things and make things, and when they come into town they try and sell their knick knacks (I've actually gotten a little gift from a Hutterite at work -- a cute little scarf that probably wrapped around my arm lol)
• Men and women must court before they marry (Not proven by me)
• They do not inbreed (in fact there's this "rumor" that men will pay other white males with evident "white male genes" such as blue eyes, blond hair, tall, etc. to have intercourse with their daughters in order to prevent inbreeding within the colonies.. whether this is true I don't know) 
• They travel in Carriages.. sometimes :) (TRUE)
• Some colonies allow use of cell phones and "modern technology" others completely forbid it. (True, there's different colonies and depending on their last names one can see the different customs that each practice)

These are only a few of the things that I've heard and seen about the Hutterites.

So the farmer's market that only takes place during the months of summer in Montana (due to the winter) is a perfect place to see quite a few of them. Unfortunately the women do not show up to these markets until the end of summer, so I'll have to update you on pics of them later on.

And here's my favorite :) 

Honey took this picture when he was out in the middle of no where one day for work. 

Anyways hope you enjoyed my little 411 on the Hutterites. :)